In the early morning of April 14th the area around Kumamoto City in the southern island of Kyushu was hit by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. Many buildings were destroyed, roads made unusable, and many landslides. In two days a 7.5 earthquake continued the destruction resulting in one church building completely destroyed. To date 49 people have died, thousands have been injured, over 200,000 have been evacuated. There continues to be aftershocks now totaling over 1000.
The Christian response to this disaster has been very encouraging. All the churches in the area have formed a joint Christ disaster relief center and many Christian organizations including the Japan Evangelical Association are mobilizing supplies and volunteers. A ministry of our Rengo partners, SOLA ministries, is mobilizing workers to meet the needs of traumatized children. Pray that God would strengthen their hands and that the Kingdom of God will be advanced though ministry.